Judging from what Shatraug posted on his page lately, the final mix took a bit longer than expected. He's also having some health problems that landed him in hospital last weekend (something to do with his gallbladder that needs surgery, apparently); I guess that's not going to help their schedule.

In a fairly recent interview with Shatraug, the upcoming album contains much songwriting output from the rest of the band besides Shatraug. This will be unlike previous albums that were almost entirely written by Shatraug or, for example, Corvus together with Shatraug.

I'm almost completely certain that they will never create anything superior to Sanojesi Äärelle (and Spellgoth can never surpass his predecessor), but I'm very much looking forward to this album anyway. As of now, it has been recorded and is yet to be mixed and mastered.

As expected, Spellgoth doesn't even begin to fill his predecessor's shoes. I miss Tapsa. He wasn't impressive on Adventus Satanae, but I thought he might do it with more passion on the album proper.

The song is alright, but I think Shatraug was right in his prediction that Horna will never surpass Sanojesi Äärelle. The mournful Gorgoroth styled riffing near the end is what I want to hear from Horna! Here's to hoping that element will be quite pronounced on the album, and Spellgoth's insipid yells more subdued. I will preorder, most likely.

Guys, check out Tortorum after you've done with that. Exctinctionist is one of the best Norwegian black metal debuts of 2012.

The vocals are doing nothing for me. I actually find them mostly bad. And like Sarguer said, the riffing is not very interesting until the last minute or so. I'm starting to have doubts about this.

For the most part the vocals do nothing indeed, and near the end it hearkens back to Horna's early days when Nazgul constantly stole the show with his ridiculous yells (fortunately he toned that down a little on the first full-length). Spellgoth was rather good in Prevalent Resistance, so it's a great shame.

The bread-and-butter riffing is definitely competent though. Not incredible, but wholly enjoyable. The melodic part near the end is a very nice icing on the cake. I wouldn't want a whole album of melodic Gorgoroth style riffs (or, well, I would, but that wouldn't be Horna!), I like when there's balance.

They definitely have a knack for writing more melodic and lengthy tracks like Liekki ja Voima, a highlight of the previous album. Judging by the track lengths they probably haven't written anything like that, but I'm giving this a chance either way.

They definitely have a knack for writing more melodic and lengthy tracks like Liekki ja Voima, a highlight of the previous album. Judging by the track lengths they probably haven't written anything like that, but I'm giving this a chance either way.

Yeah, that song was fantastic. After a few spins, I started liking the last couple of songs on disc 1 the most though.